3. An officer who went before procession to clear the way by blowing a
horn, or otherwise; hence, any person who marched at the head of a
procession; a harbinger.
Which like a mighty whiffler 'fore the king, Seems to prepare his way.
Shak.
<! p. 1646 !>
"Whifflers, or fifers, generally went first in a procession, from which
circumstance the name was transferred to other persons who succeeded to
that office, and at length was given to those who went forward merely
to clear the way for the procession. . . . In the city of London, young
freemen, who march at the head of their proper companies on the Lord
Mayor's day, sometimes with flags, were called whifflers, or bachelor
whifflers, not because they cleared the way, but because they went
first, as whifflers did." Nares.